Stop the presses: The City Campaign Finance Board slapped a consultant with a $15,000 fine for breaking the rules. Finally, the world is safe for democracy.

Or so you might think from Thursday’s big-noise announcement.

If only. In fact, the fine — plus a $10,800 one from state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman — merely highlights the lunacy of the city’s campaign-finance scheme.

In 2013, the consultants at The Advance Group repped four Democratic candidates while also working with two “independent” groups: the teachers union and the anti-horse-carriage folks, NYCLASS.

The two special interests shelled out tens of thousands to promote TAG’s candidates, but failed to build a “firewall” between themselves and the campaigns. The board says TAG’s dual roles amounted to “coordination” — a no-no under the rules.

“Today’s agreement sends a clear message that campaign coordination is unacceptable in New York,” huffed the AG.

Bull. These fines are chump change compared to the cash these interests toss into city politics.

And what’s wrong with “coordination”? Well, says Schneiderman, the lack of a bright line between outside groups and campaigns “distorts the democratic process.”

Huh? Democracy is better served if the middleman puts up some barrier between the campaigns and the groups, then everyone winks and nods around it? That’s all the law requires, and what plenty of players do.

In truth, all the rules and fines do is shut out the amateurs, and empower the insiders — i.e., the special-interest groups whose influence the system supposedly reins in.

Benefit democracy? The central point of the First Amendment is to protect political speech (e.g., advertising), allow free debate — and so improve democracy. Gotham’s system works to limit speech and debate.

For all this, taxpayers get to pay millions for the public-financing part of the law. Oh, and have their intelligence insulted by the moral preening of Schneiderman and the Campaign Finance Board.